


Explore the ways in which the characters of Wuthering Heights and A Thouand Splendid Suns are a product of their time

by orphan_account



Category: A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini, Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-09 03:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11095701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A comparative essay on Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.





	Explore the ways in which the characters of Wuthering Heights and A Thouand Splendid Suns are a product of their time

The culture reflected in both A Thousand Splendid Suns and Wuthering Heights is very much emblematic of the zeitgeist in which the writers have chosen to set their novels. Both texts reflect values of the Victorian era and war torn Afghanistan respectively. With this in mind, it is easy to see the influences of social expectations on characters within both texts, however, readers can also see the tension arising as social expectations do not reflect the true desires of the characters in both novels.

For both Hosseini and Bronte, the setting of each of the novels reflect a landscape which is indicative of their time. The landscape creates characters who embody elements of their physical environment causing them to adapt in order to survive. In Wuthering Heights, when Isabella States "I'm not going to act the lady among you for fear I should starve", her dialogue voice and declarative explicitly indicates her angry and unladylike tone. The setting of Wuthering Heights affects Isabella's characterisation as she adopts dark and savage qualities of the landscape. The verb "starve" cleverly acknowledges that Isabella cannot be the 'lady' that she was brought up to be as survival of the fittest makes her change. This displays how women have to fend for themselves in new environments, and react in violent and savage ways. Similarly, women adapt to new environments and adopt the qualities of the landscape in which they are surrounded by in A Thousand Splendid Suns, which is evident when "Mariam grabbed" the shovel from the toolshed. Hosseini's verb choice interestingly depicts how Mariam adapts to male characteristics in a male setting with ease, and the imagery creates a curious familiarity. Writers both create conflict between characters' outward appearance and their inner thoughts and feelings.

Adaption is not always a positive experience for characters in each of the novels. Akin to both texts is women's response to a male dominated world of violence and weaponry showing how femininity is a struggle for women who do not possess the ideal qualities of the time in which they are living in. In Wuthering Heights when Heathcliff states "I'll take care she does not disgrace me by rambling abroad" his active voices ensures that he remains a faithful husband however the implication is that he will beat her if she displeases him. On the other hand, in A Thousand Splendid Suns when Rasheed states to Mariam "now chew" in regards to the rocks and pebbles he forces her to eat to show her what her rice tastes like and "Mariam chewed", through imperative tone and passive voice Hosseini shows how Mariam's desensitisation to violence mirrors the desensitisation of women in the society of Afghanistan as violence against women is typically a part of the culture. A male voice crafts female violence with graphic description in A Thousand Splendid Suns whereas in Wuthering Heights the violence is implied. Arguably, the violence depicted in Wuthering Height is surprisingly more emotive than A Thousand Splendid Suns as implied violence means that everything is left to the readers imagination, making Heathcliff appear more cold and calculated to the reader than Rasheed.

Marriage is a situation that is explicitly enforced upon both Laila and Mariam in A Thousand Splendid Suns whereas it is more subtle in Wuthering Heights for Catherine. Key to both texts is the influence of the expectations of the culture of the time in which they live which forces their outward response, despite inner turmoil. In Wuthering Heights, when Cathy states "If i marry Linton" the dialogue voice of Cathy cleverly enhances the social hierarchy of the time in which she is forced to conform to. Additionally, the conditional "if" implies that Cathy has a choice, however she still conforms to the social conventions of he time when she marries Edgar. On the other hand, in A Thousand Splendid Suns when Rasheed marries Mariam and takes the ring "forcing it over her knuckles", the verb choice "forcing" is explicitly foreboding of their marriage and is symbolic of the violence that characterises their relationship, while the preposition "over" indicates male dominance over women. Additionally, during the marriage ceremony when Mariam states "this is the face of my husband", Hosseini's use of presodics cleverly emphasises Mariam's passive voice as she is conforming to the idea of female subservience. Interestingly, this links to Lacan's mirror theory of how mirrors show the stages of the development of our identity throughout our life as Mariam realises her identity in the mirror only when she is someone else's property, that being Rasheed's wife.

Finally, in Wuthering Heights, Bronte has clearly been influenced by the social expectations of the Victorian idea of 'the angel in the house' so it is not surprising to see characters reflecting and subverting these qualities. It is, however, perhaps more interesting to see Hosseini interrogating these features in Afghanistan to depict characters who are a product of a different time. In Wuthering Heights, when Catherine is described "as a miser might turn" this simile indicates that Catherine's actions are not typical of a woman at the time, and that she doesn't reflect the typical 'angel of the house' mannerisms but does in looks, evident when she is described as "a real beauty in the face". This declarative interestingly highlights excessive characterisation from Nelly, which juxtaposes with Catherine's thoughts and feelings. Similarly, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Laila is described to have "blonde curls", however this characterisation of innocence juxtaposes the typical qualities of Afghan women. Akin to Wuthering Heights, Laila subverts her outward appearance of 'the angel in the house' when she hits Rasheed with a glass and "Mariam watched her hand rise overhead" in which the verb choice "rise overhead" cleverly depicts Laila's rise over male violence and dominace. Outward perfection creates conflict with other characters as they are not perfect inwards, making them more interesting than one dimensional characters.


End file.
